Measuring clinical performance to provide information for quality improvement.

Measures of clinical performance summarize quality of care given to groups of patients by a practice, provider network, or plan. Clinical managers can use these measures to drive and track internal quality improvements, and purchasers and accreditors can provide benchmarks based on comparisons of performance in order to stimulate internal improvements. This article explains desired properties of such clinical performance measures and the AHCPR Typology of Clinical Performance Measures Project.